Wolf Tracks - Bianca D'Arc Page 0,23

lead them away from the beach. From there, he turned off onto side roads that she never would have dreamed of traveling if she’d been on her own.

The roads twisted and turned, going from larger roads down to two-lane cow paths at times, as he used shortcuts and switchbacks. She figured he was trying to make it difficult for anyone trying to follow them. Still, he eventually brought them to a small airport.

Helen had been imagining a commercial flight from a larger airport. This was no more than a rural airstrip with a few hangars where small planes were housed. There was an airstrip very similar to this near her family’s farm in rural Pennsylvania. She’d never flown in a small plane, but she’d seen them flying around the area often enough. One of her brothers had even taken a few flying lessons from one of the fellows at the airfield but hadn’t pursued it beyond the first few lessons.

Helen followed Jim’s pickup truck into the airport and then toward a hangar on the far end of the airstrip. As he approached, the door to the massive building slowly opened, revealing a well-lit interior that was mostly empty, except for a somewhat larger airplane than the others parked around the field. This one, while still a small plane, boasted two prop engines, one on each wing. It also had little windows down the body of it, as if it was able to seat a number of passengers.

Jim gave someone inside the hangar a hand signal out the window of his pickup and then drove slowly into the gaping doorway. Helen followed close behind. He pulled his pickup to the far corner of the building, and Helen did the same, parking right behind him. He got out, and she waited to see what would happen before doing the same.

A woman came out of the shadows behind the plane, wiping her hands on a rag. She nodded to Jim and gazed over at Helen before turning back to Jim. They exchanged a few words while Helen got out of her car and made sure she had all her things. She didn’t know when she’d get back to her little car or how long it would sit here, among strangers, so it was important to take everything with her.

Jim motioned her over when she shut the door of her vehicle. She walked the twenty feet or so to where he was still chatting with the woman. Tall and fit, the woman had to be a shifter of some kind. Helen felt short and distinctly small compared to both Jim and the Amazon, but she did her best not to let her intimidation show.

“Helen, I’d like you to meet Leslie. She’s loaning us her airplane and will be looking after our vehicles for the next few days.”

Leslie smiled and held out a hand. Helen reached forward to shake the Amazon’s hand and felt a little jolt of shifter magic. Yep. The lovely Leslie definitely had a furry side.

“Pleased to meet you, and thank you for your help,” Helen murmured, feeling outclassed by the tall, blonde beauty.

This was the kind of woman Jim belonged with. Not some short mage who had no offensive capabilities to speak of. He needed a warrior by his side, not a healer who had to be protected. Feeling a little down from her own thoughts, Helen was surprised when Leslie turned her full attention toward her.

“You’re the healer,” she said, smiling. Helen looked more closely. It was a nervous smile. A cautious smile. Helen grew concerned.

“I am.” Helen saw no need to hide her ability. Someone had to have briefed this woman about Jim and Helen and given the information to her. “Is there something I can help you with?” Sometimes, patients had to be coaxed.

“If you would be so kind,” Leslie said hesitantly, “it’s my father. He’s human, you see. He’s been coughing an awful lot, and I’m really afraid it’s something bad, but he won’t go see a doctor.” Helen heard the heartbreak and fear in Leslie’s voice, and there was no question in Helen’s mind that she would try to help.

“Take me to him,” she said without hesitation.

“He’s in the office,” Leslie said, pointing to a little room built into the side of the hangar on the opposite corner.

Helen didn’t wait but started walking, and the others followed her. This was something she could do. She knew her abilities, and healing was her major gift. It was